The 3 negative reviews for my flat are obsolete. All those disadvantages are improved and corrected. I am Working in marketing department in my family's firm based on theme parks production. I mostly like American beat writers and fantastic literature and my favorite directors are Jim Jarmush, Wim Wenders, François Truffaut and Godard for sure. My Music taste depends on what I want to do with it in that moment. I cant live with out my friends and good food. And my life motto is : Your life is what you created for it.

Reviews
(19)

Reviews From Guests

Ekim was very nice. He met us upon arrival and showed us around the area with suggestions and helped us get our bearings. Thanks to his Internet, we had wi-fi and were able to communicate with him as needed (our US phones do not work in Turkey) and surf the web for local listings and events . The apt was clean, roomy, and did not smell although Istanbul has a massive population of cats. We were disappointed that the washing machine was broken for the entirety of our visit as this feature had a lot to do with my not packing many clothes. Also, we did not have any hot water the last five days of our stay. To make this a positive thing, September was still very warm and after a day of sightseeing and walking up the hill to Galata at the end of the day, a cold shower was not so bad! There is noise from the eye hospital across the street and the autopark but I used ear plugs and was not bothered (It also blocked out the daily 530am call to prayer). The borek shop just a few feet away from the apt was great for breakfast and the shop at the bottom floor supplied us with cheap bottled water. There is also a pretty distinguished jazz club across the street. We did not know this upon booking but Galata is a very desired location for nightlife, shopping, eating and the souvenirs are cheaper than in the Old City. We had a very early flight and Ekim arranged a taxi for our 5am pick up and was even there to say goodbye and make sure we got off on our journey okay.

Oh! Ken you din't even tell me about the hot water. The pressure of the heater must have fallen. I could fix that easily. To all my guests again: Please never mind to ask me any kind of trouble at any time of the day. Cheers...

The apartment of Ekim is ideally situated, in a very groovy district, in the daytime as at night, with a really magnificent sight on Sultanhamet, and Bosphorus. What a pleasure to look the sunset on the small terrace! We will never forget this !
So this is the ideal place for persons who like going out in the evening, who like cats (there is a lot in the district, also in the staircases and sometimes you can smell them in the staircase) who like the excitement. We really had fun.
Ekim is a very kind and friendly host, also do not hesitate to ask him what are the best places or go out for eating, listenning music...
On the other hand, if you look for peace and comfort, you might be disappointed: the district is groovy and fun, with a lot of bars, restaurants.....so it's noisy night and day !...and although charming and cute, the apartment is very old and not really functional. It was not a problem for us but it could be for another people i think ! It depends on what you expect !

Great and convenient location, with a balcony with a beautiful view at sunset.
The building is old, and evidently that comes with some inconvenients, but in my mind, it added charm to the experience.
Ekim was very nice and accomodating.
Thank you for a great few days.

Ekim's apartment was great. It's a 40 second walk from Galata tower and all the bars/cafes/restaurants of Beyoglu. Everything was clean and smelled nice; of course it's in old building, but that's part of the charm. The owner was friendly and definitely did not give me any trouble. Also, Ekim, his girlfriend, and I went out two nights in a row and had lots of fun. I recommend Ekim and his place wholeheartedly

I have used AirBnB all over the world and have rarely been disappointed.Sadly this was one place that was a disappointment. Ekim is a very friendly and a very accommodating host but his apartment was very disappointing. The apartment needs work and is very rough condition, it's very loud there, his laundry was left in the bedroom, the washer door was broken and was difficult to work when we wanted to do our laundry, the kitchen was just barely usable and the stairs smelled like cat urine and the smell seemed to come into the apartment as well. The apartment as a whole needs upkeep and repair work. After a long flight our hearts sank when we entered the apartment. We stayed one night and then booked a hotel for our remaining dates. There were too many issues to deal with nor did we want to deal with them when we only had a limited time in Istanbul. The location is fantastic and Ekim seems to be wonderful guy but his place needs to be cleaned up and fixed up.

I would not recommend staying at this place, although the apartment is located in a great area and is a good deal for the price. The flat is quite messy and there is a cafe downstairs, which opens early in the morning and makes sleeping after 7am difficult. The view from the balcony is, indeed, fantastic and the neighborhood is great too. The real problem with this apartment, as some of the previous reviewers have mentioned, is that Ekim has legal problems with the owner of the apartment whose office is located on the first floor of the building. On the third day of our 5 day stay, we were stopped at the door by the apartment's owner who forced us to leave and threatened to call the police, if we didn't vacant the place immediately. Unfortunately, Ekim was out of the city and couldn't be reached on his cell phone. We had no choice but to leave the place and look for another one. Luckily, the guys from Airbnb were quick to provide us with assistance and issue a refund for the remaining nights of our stay. Later on Ekim contacted us and apologized for the situation, and even offered us a free week in his apartment, which we refused because he should neither rent, nor offer the apartment to people until he solves whatever issues he has with the owner of the apartment. I am sure that Ekim is aware of the tendency of the owner to intimidate the people staying at the apartment because upon check-in he instructed us not to tell anyone from the building that we are paying to stay at the apartment.

Although the apartment was not ready when I arrived, Ekim was very welcoming and friendly, and managed to make an unfortunate situation (a key had been lost) quite pleasant. The apartment is roomy and well equipped, and the balcony overlooking the Bosphorus is worth the price in itself. The location is ideal, and I would like to come back and stay for a longer time at Ekims place.

Overall, my friend and I had a very pleasant stay in Ekim's apartment. Ekim himself is a very nice guy, helpful and quick to address any problems at hand. We did indeed encounter two problems: one was a neighbor (who claimed to be the owner) who was not happy about him renting the place, and pestered us with questions and threatened us. Ekim came over to intervene when we called and he left us alone after that. And the second issue was again not our host's fault at all: a cat left a stinky present on the doorstep. Once again, Ekim came to the rescue and cleaned it up right away. The location is perfect, the apartment is very charming, with all the basics you need to feel at home. I hope Ekim can sort out the rental issue so that other guests can enjoy the place as much as we have.